Nomads and Education For All: Education for development or domestication?

Abstract

Migrants, and particularly nomads, are among the most marginalised social groups, and are widely excluded from educational provision, despite pledges of Education For All. The phenomenon of movement itself presents many challenges for both providers, and would-be users, of educational services. Around the world, the provision of education for nomads has reflected and been instrumental to particular stances on pastoral development. The links between education and development are explored specifically in the case of a transhumant pastoral group in Western India. The article reveals Education For All as an ideological notion, reflecting values that contradict those of nomadic groups, and argues that the value positions underlying this notion need to be articulated and further contextualised if it is not simply to reflect existing, and exclusive, hegemonies.